Contact lenses can be made by cast molding, which involves forming a contact lens in a contact lens shaped cavity between a first mold part and a second mold part of a contact lens mold assembly. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,160,749; 5,466,147; 6,405,993; and 6,732,993.
Typically, a single contact lens mold assembly for molding a single contact lens product includes a female mold section having a concave optical surface defining an anterior surface of a lens to be made, and a male mold section having a convex optical surface defining a posterior surface of the lens to be made. Thus, when the male and female mold sections are assembled together in a contact lens mold assembly, a contact lens-shaped cavity is formed between the concave surface of the female section and the convex surface of the male section.
In the manufacture of contact lenses, it is desirable to continue to develop new manufacturing components, systems, methods, and the like to reduce production time, to reduce production costs, and to increase productivity, among other things.